NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Knuckles the Echidna from the Sonic the Hedgehog Live-Action movies. Other versions can be found here: Knuckles the Echidna. |
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“ | Do I look like I need your power? | „ |
~ Knuckles teasing Sonic about asking for his power – his most famous quote. |
“ | Time for a Knuckles Sandwich! | „ |
~ Knuckles referring to Sonic Heroes in Sonic Drone Home |
Knuckles the Echidna is one of the two tritagonists (alongside Maddie Wachowski) of the Sonic Cinematic Universe.
He is a powerful red extraterrestrial echidna with the power of chaos energy that gives him incredible strength and the sole survivor of the echidna tribe after they were wiped out by the owl tribe. He formerly worked with Dr. Robotnik to find the Master Emerald and defeat Sonic, only to be betrayed by Dr. Robotnik and allied with Sonic against Dr. Robotnik. He is the film's adaptation of Knuckles the Echidna from the video game franchise.
He is voiced and motion-captured by Idris Elba, who also plays Chief Bogo in the Zootopia franchise, Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower, Bloodsport in the DC Extended Universe, Stacker Pentecost in Pacific Rim, and Truck in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, while he is voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the Sonic Drone Home short.
Appearance[]
Knuckles' appearance is mostly similar to that of his video game counterpart, being a fierce-looking red colored echidna with two twin spikes on his big white boxing glove-like gloves, hence his name. He sports red shoes with a yellow-orange stripe around it, and green cuffs. He also has silver plates on his shoes with six dots each. He has a muzzle and spines that point down like dreadlocks. He also has a white horizontal crescent-shaped stripe on his chest.
Personality[]
“ | I am not mixed up! I have steely focus. And I'm complex. And that's a lot for some people. | „ |
~ Knuckles describing himself |
A confident, hardened, solitary, proud, aggressive, determined, gruff, and a quite tough echidna, Knuckles is more than proud of his echidna heritage. His judgment is quite low, as shown by his quick alliance with Dr. Robotnik when he barely knows him and his determination to destroy Sonic just for his affiliation with Longclaw, for whom Knuckles holds deep grudge ever since the owls slaughtered his clan. Knuckles' main flaws are his gullibility, naivety, and impulsiveness, being manipulated by Dr. Robotnik throughout the film, unsuspecting the Mad Doctor's true plans, and jumping quickly to over-the-top guesswork. To achieve his ends, he does not hesitate to destroy everything without worrying about the damage he leaves behind. He also doesn't understand the second degree, can take everything at face value, and dislikes Sonic's jokes, finding them mostly insulting.
Knuckles is also overconfident in his abilities and can be dismissive of his opponents, finding Sonic pitiful when they first meet and judging most people he meets quite coldly. His cynical nature actually hides his deep sadness at the loss of his people whose honor Knuckles has long sought to restore. His contempt for Sonic briefly faded when he learned that the hedgehog had also lost everything on that same cursed day, but Tails' sneak attack made him believe that Sonic was trying to deceive him. During their final confrontation, Knuckles showed more than immense determination against Sonic even when he was losing the advantage against him.
After Dr. Robotnik's betrayal and Sonic saving him from drowning, Knuckles in turn saves him, showing that he possesses some sense of honor. Afterwards, Knuckles began to question himself, not really knowing what he wanted until Sonic convinced him to help him stop Dr. Robotnik. Following Dr. Robotnik's defeat, Knuckles was accepted as a friend of the Wachowski family despite his previous deeds and was shown to be able to have a good time though he remained socially awkward and cocky but did indeed have a good heart.
Other Media[]
Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill[]
In the official prequel comic to the 2022 film Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Knuckles is investigating the most desolated corners of the galaxy in his search for Sonic the Hedgehog. However, as he explores the landscape of an unknown planet, a volcanic eruption causes the echidna to lose his footing and falls into a deep chasm. Although he survives the fall, the landing weakens him enough for a trio of scavengers to restrain him before taking him through a ring portal to a place called Casino Night, where arena fights are held for gambling purposes.
Knuckles is shackled inside the arena where he is forced to fight against a gigantic, two-headed, lobster-like beast for his freedom. Because he is chained down, Knuckles is barely able to avoid the beast's first strike and then gets irritated when his chains get stuck in the creature's grip. He soon becomes infuriated enough to break free of his restraints and knock out his opponent with a single punch, winning the fight.
Afterwards, Knuckles approaches the three scavengers that captured him and recognizes their tracking skills as he asks them to help him locate Sonic. The scavengers eventually begin tracking an electronic signal of someone they believed to be the hedgehog. However, after numerous failed attempts to find the individual, Knuckles decides to travel to one more place that he believes they could find a lead.
Quotes[]
“ | Where did you get that? | „ |
~ Knuckles' demanding to know where Dr. Robotnik got Sonic's quill from; also his first words |
“ | Pitiful. | „ |
~ Knuckles after easily incapacitating Sonic with a single punch |
“ | I was expecting more of you. You’re unskilled… untrained… and… UNWORTHY!!! | „ |
~ Knuckles underestimating Sonic |
“ | Knuckles: It is my destiny to do what my ancestors could not. To restore the ultimate power to the home of my people! Sonic: Ultimate power? I don't know what your talking about! You got the wrong guy! Dr. Robotnik: Ultimate power? Now you're speaking my language. Knuckles: Don't play dumb with me, apprentice of Longclaw! Sonic: You knew Longclaw? Knuckles: Longclaw and her people were the sworn enemy of my tribe, the echidna! We fought and died at their hands, and now you will die by mine. |
„ |
~ Knuckles confronting Sonic |
“ | You think these machines are a match for me? I will shatter them like the bones of a fallen...Oh. They are stairs. | „ |
~ Knuckles being assisted by Dr. Robotnik |
“ | Porcupine? I am an echidna. Trained since birth in all forms of lethal combat, destined to restore honor to my tribe and willing to destroy anything that gets in my way. | „ |
~ Knuckles meeting Agent Stone |
“ | Just chillin. Watching TV. Dot dot dot... dot dot dot... dot dot dot... dot dot dot... dot dot dot. | „ |
~ Knuckles' lack of familiarity with technology. |
“ | Sonic: For a guy named "Knuckles", you are really bad at punching! Knuckles: Surrender the compass! You're no match for me! I've been training for this my entire life! Sonic: And I have no training at all, yet here I am ahead of you! That's gotta be embarrassing! |
„ |
~ Knuckles chasing Sonic on a snowboard |
“ | Sonic: Has anyone ever told you you've got serious anger issues? Knuckles: You mock me with your weak jokes, but you know nothing about me, hedgehog. Sonic: Well, I know you echidnas have a habit of showing up uninvited and ruining my life. Knuckles: Ruining your life? Another bad joke. I lost everything because of you. My tribe was on the verge of its greatest victory. The last of the owls warriors had been located. Soon, Longclaw's emerald secrets would be ours. But my father stopped me from joining the fight. He said my moment to honor our tribe would come, but it was not this moment. Those were the last words he spoke to me. I never saw him again. Sonic: We both lost everything that day... |
„ |
~ Sonic and Knuckles exchange backstories |
“ | Knuckles: Is everything a joke to you? Why must you constantly interfere with my destiny? Sonic: Because my destiny is to protect my friends and family. |
„ |
~ Sonic and Knuckles before their ultimate battle |
“ | Knuckles: Say goodbye, hedgehog. Sonic: Knuckles, stop. Robotnik’s stealing the Emerald! Knuckles: What kind of fool do you take me for? Sonic: Just look. (Knuckles turns around and sees Dr. Robotnik stealing the Emerald) Dr. Robotnik: Mine. Knuckles: WAIT! That wasn’t the deal. Dr. Robotnik: Oh. You poor, naïve creature. It’s not your fault. A more advanced intellect would have seen this move coming a mile away. Or 1.6 kilometers. Knuckles: (angrily) But I trusted you! You were my friend! Dr. Robotnik: (laughs maniacally) I’m sorry. That just hit me funny. Let this be my final lesson to you, you dim-witted celestial skin tag. Friends…Are open, honest and vulnerable with each other. Which means X squared times the hypotenuse of Y squared, divided by the absolute value of friendship, equals… DOOKIE! |
„ |
~ Knuckles nearly finishes off Sonic and then is betrayed by Dr. Robotnik |
“ | Sonic: You saved me. Knuckles: Don't talk to me. I'm not in the mood. [Sonic throws a sandball at Knuckles] How dare you attack me in my hour of sorrow! [Sonic throws another sandball at Knuckles] Sonic: Why did you save me? [Knuckles throws a giant sand ball at him which buries him completely] Knuckles: Because you saved me first which clearly gave you a tactical advantage I do not understand. Sonic: It wasn't a tactic, I couldn't just let you die. Knuckles: Why? I've been trying to destroy you since the moment we met. Sonic: Because being a hero isn't about taking care of yourself, it's about taking responsibility for other people. Knuckles: Hmm, wise words. An ancient earth proverb? Sonic: No, sir, that's a Wachowski family special. I got it from a guy in a rowboat, someone who means a lot to me. |
„ |
~ Knuckles to Sonic after Dr. Robotnik's betrayal |
“ | Sonic: Come on, Knucklehead. We're not beat yet. Knuckles: On the mountain, you told me you lost everything. The way I did. But you seem so hopeful and free, how did you move forward despite failing again and again and again and again and again and again... Sonic: Okay, I didn't fail that much. But I didn't do this all alone. I found a new family, new friends, and you can too. You don't have to be alone anymore. [Knuckles accepts Sonic's hand, crushing it in the process] Ow, ow, ow, ow! Are you kidding me with that handshake?! |
„ |
~ Knuckles makes peace with Sonic and agrees to help him against Dr. Robotnik |
“ | Tails: Hope you’re not still mad I hit you with that car. Knuckles: Pfft! I was completely uninjured. And my revenge will come when you least expect it, fox. |
„ |
~ Knuckles to Tails about their first altercation |
“ | Robotnik! Deceiver! | „ |
~ Knuckles charging the Robot Eggman |
“ | Knuckles: I suggest the groin! Sonic: What? No, no! Knuckles: Conditionally, yes! The groin is the weakest spot! Sonic: Stop saying "groin"! |
„ |
~ Knuckles suggests attacking the groin |
“ | Tails: You're really heavy! Knuckles: That's because I'm one million percent muscle. Faster, fox! |
„ |
~ Knuckles to Tails who has trouble lifting him |
“ | Dr. Robotnik: Disloyal. Knuckles: “Dis” is how I roll. |
„ |
~ Knuckles taunts Dr. Robotnik with the same words he said to him earlier before punching Dr Robotnik in the gut, kicking out the Master Emerald |
“ | Wait, you cannot touch him! The hedgehog holds the power of the Emerald. I am sorry, he's no longer the Sonic you once knew. [...] Okay. He is exactly the Sonic you once knew. | „ |
~ Knuckles about Super Sonic after being smeared in the face by a falling Chill Dog |
“ | Very well. A power bump it is. | „ |
~ Knuckles |
“ | Knuckles: Ummm... I don't understand, why am I angry at the enemy ball? Sonic: You're not angry, you just want to hit it as hard as you can and then run around the bases. Knuckles: But if my quest ends where I am standing, why run at all? Sonic: Uhhh again with this guy why do I even try? |
„ |
~ Knuckles misinterpreting baseball |
“ | I am having the fun! What is ice cream? | „ |
~ Knuckles having fun for the first time after riding around the baseball field |
“ | Knuckles: Sonic, I have just been told they have sprinkles. Sonic: Ice cream and sprinkles? This is your new destiny. Knuckles: What a perfect meal to celebrate my victory over you in base of ball. Tails: What? Sonic: I mean, you barely beat me. Knuckles: Ha! You’ve never been beaten so hard! |
„ |
~ Knuckles can't wait to eat ice cream while continuing to brag about his baseball victory |
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Superhuman Strength: Knuckles' main power is his immense physical strength. He can easily break through large rock structures, perforate metal and blow up Robotnik's robots with one punch. Throughout the movie, Sonic was never able to best Knuckles in terms of strength. Knuckles' strength can also be further increased by Chaos energy. Because of this immense strength and Knuckles himself is aware of his own strength in addition to his own simplicity, he tends to smash through obstacles before him instead of evading them like Sonic or Tails do. By applying pressure with his hands, Knuckles was able to reconstitute the Master Emerald from the shards. He can also punch through mountainsides and use it to climb. He was holding back Sonic's chaos energy-enhanced spin attack with just one hand. When Knuckles was training, he was able to effortlessly pick up a massive boulder and shatter it with a single punch. During is final fight with “The Buyer”, Knuckles was shown lifting a gigantic metal sphere over his head and launching it with ease.
- Enhanced Leaping: With Knuckles's incredible strength, he's able to jump at great distances.
- Power Fists: With his immense strength and chaos power, Knuckles is able to rapidly punch repeatedly until he's finally able to catch a reflexive Sonic off guard. He's also able to punch a baseball through a scoreboard and a good distance away.
- Superhuman Durability: Knuckles is capable of taking heavy blows that would cripple or kill an ordinary human such as a high speed car impact. He also took the full brunt of Sonic's attacks without suffering any major damage. During the fight in the Master Emerald's temple, Knuckles took Sonic's full power attacks while being punched through the rock but quickly recovered. During his fight with “The Buyer”, Knuckles got launched into cars with enough force to make the cars explode, as well as getting thrown through the top of a tall building and falling to the ground, and got back up relatively quickly.
- Superhuman Speed: Although not as fast as Sonic, Knuckles can run very fast, at least faster than a human and fast enough to catch onto a running car. Using Chaos Energy also allows him to increase his speed for both running and moving. While running bipedal, Knuckles is shown to run on all fours quite ably. He was also shown to be able to track Sonic's movements when the latter was moving at supersonic speed.
- Superhuman Reflexes: Knuckles also possesses amazing reflexes, being able to track and react accordingly to even Sonic's supernatural speed movements and intercept his high-speed charges with a punch at just the right time. When a construction worker fired a nail gun at him, Knuckles instantly caught the nail in mid air.
- Superhuman Agility: Knuckles is very agile, as shown by his ability to jump far and move quickly. By using his Chaos energy, his agility is enhanced.
- Enhanced Dexterity: Knuckles was able to throw pieces of a lawn tool at a construction worker with perfect accuracy in order to pin him up against the wall.
- Chaos Energy Empowerment: As one of the few beings possessing this power, Knuckles is able to manifest a form of bio-electromagnetic energy that can increase his natural abilities like his strength, speed and durability and accumulate enough energy to produce explosions and shock waves. When tapping into this ability, Knuckles will start generating red energy that causes his quills and eyes to glow red. Also like Sonic, Knuckles can generate a lot of energy related to his emotions such as anger.
- Bio-Electrokinesis: Knuckles can emit red colored electricity from his body. His bio-electricity also allows him to generate a trail behind him as he runs, identical to Sonic. Or he can charge his fists, making his attacks much stronger and more deadly, or he can create powerful electric shock waves with a single blow.
- Shockwave Generation: With his Chaos bio-electrical energy, he can create powerful energy shockwaves. He used this against Sonic in their first fight Knuckles forced him into the ground even in Sonic's chaos-powered state he released a red shockwave that knocked everything around him down, including Doctor Eggman's bowl of popcorn, and caused Sonic to bounce back up before pinning him to a tree while in midair.
- Energy Absorption: Knuckles can also drain his own chaos energy back to his body if it was ever stolen from him. This was shown in his final fight with "The Buyer" when he drained his stolen chaos energy back from The Buyer's giant robot suit.
- Bio-Electrokinesis: Knuckles can emit red colored electricity from his body. His bio-electricity also allows him to generate a trail behind him as he runs, identical to Sonic. Or he can charge his fists, making his attacks much stronger and more deadly, or he can create powerful electric shock waves with a single blow.
- Telescopic Vision: While it is unknown to how far he can see, Knuckles was able to see a group of construction workers walking onto the Wachowski property while he was on the top of a tall hill.
- Gliding: Knuckles can glide for short distances, and is strong enough to carry passengers while in flight, such as Wade Wipple.
- Pyrokinesis: Although not an ability displayed too often, Knuckles has the power to summon and control the "Flames of Disaster", which sets his fists on fire and enhances the power of his punches. Knuckles mainly only uses this power in extreme situations, as the Flames of Disaster are very destructive, and take a lot of energy. Knuckles can also use the Flames of Disaster to propel himself off the ground, and simulate a more suitable form of flying than his gliding ability.
Abilities[]
- Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Trained from an early age, Knuckles is a qualified hand-to-hand combatant, even after he had to learn to fight on his own as a child. His combat experience proved superior to that of Sonic. According to Tails, Knuckles is the most dangerous warrior in the galaxy.
- Skilled Digger: Thanks to his strength, Knuckles is able to dig very deep and move underground.
- Determination: Knuckles is a very determined echidna when it comes to achieving his goals (however it can also be a weakness).
- Intelligence: Knuckles has shown a decent amount of intelligence for an Echidna. However, despite Knuckles being pretty smart, he is also capable of being quite naïve in certain situations, such as trusting the wrong person or letting his temper get the better of him.
Weaknesses[]
- Simple-mindedness: Perhaps Knuckles' greatest foible. With a bit of generous treatment and smooth-talking, Knuckles trusts others to a fault, not understanding the concept that others are perfectly content with manipulating him. When Robotnik betrayed Knuckles was so stunned that he didn't know what to do at first.
- Arrogance: While he is a skilled fighter, Knuckles is very arrogant when it comes to his goals.
- Anger Issues: While Sonic said this as a joke, he is actually correct as Knuckles does have serious anger issues.
Trivia[]
- Italian is the only language where Knuckles shares his voice actor with his video game counterpart.
- Juan Carlos Gustems, voice of Knuckles for the film in Spain, previously participated in the Sonic franchise as the announcer in Team Sonic Racing.
- Like in the video game and Sonic X, Knuckles was used by Eggman/Robotnik as a pawn when he lied to him. Another commonality he shares with Sonic X but not from the video games is that Knuckles is not from Earth, instead hailing from the planet Mobius just like his Archie, Sonic the Comic, and Sonic Underground counterparts, even though the original Sonic the Hedgehog games including Sonic the Hedgehog 3 where he debuted in, were said to take place on Mobius.
- Patrick Casey claimed in the podcast about the writing of the second film that there was an early draft of when first Knuckles met Robotnik, he would bring him to Angel Island to show him how the island was falling into the ocean and needing to bring the Emerald back to save the island. However, this was scrapped because the writers wanted the two to get to earth right after the Mushroom Planet.
- It's unknown if he actually restored the ultimate power (the Master Emerald) to the home of his people as he claimed to Sonic that it was is goal to do so when pinning him to the tree, despite retrieving it at the end, he apparently didn't come back to his original home after that and questioned what they should do with the Emerald.
- However Casey claimed that there were talks about an ending where Knuckles takes the Master Emerald with him somewhere and guards it forever, but was considered a sorrowful ending for him due to him starting off lonely until finding new friends, thinking he shouldn’t take out that responsibility by himself.
- There were talks about a sequence of what became of the echidna after his tribe passed away after the battle with Longclaw, where Knuckles would be captured by an alien species then end up being put into a grinding grain and forced to painfully push it in a circle for years, explaining why he got so big and strong, then gets thrown into a fighting pit and battle his way out of it and finally starts the attempt to complete his tribe's mission. The writing team were close to going with that idea until they considered all the latter too much for the plot. A similar thing however made it into Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill, where Knuckles was captured by an alien species who brought him to the Casino Night Zone and forced him to battle a giant monster.
- Similar to his video game counterpart, Knuckles' favorite food is grapes and unlike Sonic, Knuckles is able to swim.
- A running gag throughout the film is Knuckles shaking hands with someone and indirectly crushing them with his immense strength.
- Knuckles mistaken for a porcupine by Stone is similar to the Knuckles from Sonic X where the French Dub mislabeled him as a porcupine instead of an echidna.
- Unlike his video game counterpart, Knuckles does not live in nor has no known connection to Angel Island and was not the sole guardian of the Emerald Master as in the films he shares the position with Sonic and Tails, additionally along with Sonic, his childhood is shown while that of his game counterpart's is a mystery.
- Knuckles never addresses Tails by his actual name in the film, instead referring to him as "Fox".
- However, in the short film "Sonic Drone Home", he does refer to Tails by his name.
- According to Knuckles, the reason he weighs a lot, is from having a body with more than 1,000,000% of muscle, although this doesn't make much sense, due to its small body size.
- He seems familiar with machines, since he mentions the name when he gets surrounded by Dr. Robotnik's Badniks on the cliff, which might mean that his original home planet has a form of technology (however, it is not likely as advanced as the ones of Robotnik as Knuckles refers holograms as to magic).
- In the Knuckles TV show, it's shown that he now owns the cowboy hat akin to the one he wore in the 1996 film Sonic the Hedgehog OVA.
- Knuckles knocking the Master Emerald out of Robotnik in a single blow is similar to his first appearance in the video game Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where he surprised Sonic while in his Super Sonic form, causing him to lose all the emeralds in a single attack, a feat that he never reproduced again.
- Knuckles is the first anthropomorphic character to interact with Agent Stone. Sonic and Tails do not interact with Agent Stone until the third movie.
- Knuckles speaks in a very slight British accent due to his voice actor Idris Elba being British himself.
- Knuckles is the first character in the "Sonic Cinematic Universe" to be directly responsible for another character's death onscreen. It is also the first onscreen death to occur in the televised Sonic the Hedgehog media since Molly's demise during Sonic X (although Molly's demise was censored in English versions of the anime).
- Knuckles's goal in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was to destroy Sonic in order to avenge his tribe. However, in Paramount + series Knuckles, he tells Wade Whipple that his tribe told him to find the Master Emerald and protect it.
- Knuckles has never shown his gliding ability until his own TV series.
- Knuckles has apparently been betrayed a lot in his life prior to meeting Dr. Robotnik.
External Links[]
- Knuckles the Echidna on the Sonic Cinematic Universe Wiki
- Knuckles the Echidna on the Sonic Wiki
- Knuckles the Echidna on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
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Cinematic Universe Heroes | ||
Extraterrestrials Humans See Also |